Marvel Unveils New Mixed Race Spider-man To Replace Peter Parker

This is Miles Morales, the new Spider-man who is set to make his comic book debut next summer. He is still the same teenage kid who shoots spiderwebs and hurdles buildings, but this time around Marvel set out to change one major feature, his ethnicity. Miles is a half black, half latino kid who is much younger than Peter Parker, who lives in Brooklyn. He will face a different type of storyline.

Brian Michael Bendis, who has written every issue of “Ultimate Spider-Man,” told the Associated Press he wanted to create a new character that came from a completely different background and world view. The idea of a multi-ethnic Spidey has long been in the works, though the Marvel Comics writer gives some credit to African American actor Donald Glover, who last summer lobbied to audition for the star role in The Amazing Spider-Man. After the buzz around Glover playing the Queens-bred alter ego went viral, it became a top trend on Twitter and sparked debate about race, racial casting and whether or not Peter is indeed white.

Marvel’s editor-in-chief and fanboy of superheroes of color “Luke Cage” and “Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu,” said that creating a non-white Spider-Man “was a conscious decision and that the company prides itself “on reflecting the real world in all its diversity.”

Being latino myself, this is pretty exciting to see. A globally known character being changed up completely. The new Spidey movie that is coming out next summer will feature a Caucausian actor but the new multi-racial Spidey will start in the comic books. Everyone has to start somewhere…maybe one day we will see a Blatino Spider-man movie?!